Napoli 0 Barcelona 4: Griezmann off the mark as Catalans turn on the style
Antoine Griezmann got his first Barcelona goal as they eased past Napoli in their final pre-season game.
A stylish second half from Barcelona saw them sweep aside Napoli in Michigan to claim a 4-0 friendly win on Saturday.
Antoine Griezmann got his first goal for the club since his €120million move from Atletico Madrid, in between strikes from Luis Suarez.
Ousmane Dembele added a fourth against Carlo Ancelotti’s side, who lost the first friendly meeting in Miami 2-1 on Wednesday and were simply no match for the Catalans here once they fell behind.
It was an encouraging display from Ernesto Valverde’s Barca, without the injured Lionel Messi, ahead of their LaLiga opener at Athletic Bilbao on Friday.
When you score your first goal for Barça
@antogriezmann pic.twitter.com/IoTYZrlZJ7— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 10, 2019
Griezmann dragged a clear chance wide and Dembele also fluffed his lines as Barca failed to capitalise on their first-half openings.
Suarez was denied by Alex Meret, but Fabian Ruiz went within inches of giving Napoli a lead at the break.
Griezmann spurned another chance three minutes after the break, firing straight at Meret, but Suarez was on hand this time to side-foot home the rebound.
Barca turned on the style for their second eight minutes later. A passing move starting from the back four ended with Carles Alena sliding a superb throughball to Jordi Alba – perhaps fortunate not to be flagged for offside – who squared for Griezmann to bury an easy finish.
It got worse for Napoli just two minutes later, as Dembele picked up Suarez’s pass from a loose ball and teed up the Uruguay star for a stunning curling strike that flew past Meret from the edge of the box.
Dembele marked a strong second-half showing by driving into the penalty area and drilling a right-foot strike into the bottom-left corner, ensuring Barca will head into the new season in positive fashion.
CONNECTION: STRONG pic.twitter.com/zbCv3vHuIq
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 10, 2019
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